Sailing with 9 people under 21

hi everyone - Asking for a friend...She is much braver then I. If anyone has any suggestions.... I’d like to pass them on to her if I can. Thanks in advance!!

This is the situation-

My daughter wanted to go on a cruise to the Bahamas with her friends for her 18th birthday in December.

I called to make the reservation for myself, her AND 8 of her friends.

I was told the only way it could be done (since all were not 21) was that it had to be 3 cabins right next to each other with myself in the middle adjoining.

I said that was fine. The woman preceded to take my reservation for all parties.

I called another 2x to pay balances on the cabins.

3 days later, I receive an email stating that I need to call them because there was an issue with my reservation.

Long story short...I was told that they would not be able to accommodate my party because there needs to be at least one adult 21 or over in each cabin.

Why am I hearing this now?

Why was I not told at the time I tried to make the reservation?

How could the reservation even have been made?

When I made the initial reservation walked me through exactly how it needed to be booked.

And why did 2 other agents not catch this?

As you can imagine, I was extremely upset when talking to a so called "supervisor". I asked to talk to her superior. She stated that there were 3 of them, but I couldn't talk to them now and I would get a call back in 24-48 hours...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????

Someone that is this upset, and you tell them you are going to get a call back?

AND I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A CALL BACK!!!!

AND I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED EVERYONE'S REFUNDS!!!!

Unfortunately they are correct. If all the kids were yours then you could get by with being the only adult and be in the middle cabin. With kids other than your own their needs to be an adult in each cabin or if your child is in one then their can be one non related child.

It sucks that you were initially allowed to book and you can try pressing the issue however I do not think that they will back down.

I don't believe that there is any cruise line that will allow you to have cruisers under 21 in a cabin by themselves. You appear to be a veteran cruiser, so you should have known this before booking.

Granted RCI should also not have accepted the booking, but a TA would have been a terrific asset with this kind of booking.

I don't believe that there is any cruise line that will allow you to have cruisers under 21 in a cabin by themselves. You appear to be a veteran cruiser, so you should have known this before booking.

 

Granted RCI should also not have accepted the booking, but a TA would have been a terrific asset with this kind of booking.

Royal does allow you to have your kids on a cabin by themselves as long as the cabin is directly adjacent to or directly across the hall. The issue is that the kids are not her own.

I don't believe that there is any cruise line that will allow you to have cruisers under 21 in a cabin by themselves. You appear to be a veteran cruiser, so you should have known this before booking.

 

Granted RCI should also not have accepted the booking, but a TA would have been a terrific asset with this kind of booking.

I believe RCI allows children under 21 in cabins adjoining/connecting/across the hall if a parent is there. However, in this case, they are not the OP’s children.

Royal does allow you to have your kids on a cabin by themselves as long as the cabin is directly adjacent to or directly across the hall. The issue is that the kids are not her own.

Question. If 2 of the cabins were connecting then 1 adult there and add only 1 adult for the other cabin. In other words could this be done by only adding 1 adult?

Maybe your friend has been spared !

That is a lot of responsibility taking seven 18 year old girls who are not your children on a cruise .

Can any of the other mothers go with your friend ?

Hoping all the fares are refunded as it seems the situation was not made clear by the cruise rep. when your friend made the booking.

I meant to write eight 18 year olds who are not your friend’s children.

Question. If 2 of the cabins were connecting then 1 adult there and add only 1 adult for the other cabin. In other words could this be done by only adding 1 adult?

It doesn’t matter if the room are connecting or not. Royal treats connecting and side by side the same.

It doesn’t matter if the room are connecting or not. Royal treats connecting and side by side the same.

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It doesn’t matter if the room are connecting or not. Royal treats connecting and side by side the same.

Thanks, good info

I think they're saying the mom in one cabin. Mom's daughter in a connecting cabin, as it would be her child in that room it should follow the rules(???). So they'd just need an adult to go in the third cabin. Though that's then 10 people in 3 cabins, tight!

 

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With the moms daughter in the cabin there could only be one other non related minor in that room otherwise there needs to be an adult. You would not be allowed to have the daughter and 2 or 3 friends even though the room is directly beside or even connecting.

Thanks, good info

You’re welcome.

There has to be a way around this.

Every spring and summer there are high school trips either band trips, choir trips, or some such trip.

I know for a fact there is not an adult assigned to every cabin.

How to get around this, I don’t know. Maybe Groups Dept. maybe a TA that does tons of businesses? I don’t know.

What we do know is that every cruise line out there has a waiver for almost every firm policy.

Don’t give up.

I was able to bring my niece and nephew they were beside me but I wasn’t the mom.

Keep calling until you get someone who can actually help you. If you've sailed RCI before, call the C&A rep.

The unrelated adult rule is correct which was stated by Ourusualbeach so I don’t see a way around it.

Best of luck trying though.

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There has to be a way around this.

Every spring and summer there are high school trips either band trips, choir trips, or some such trip.

I know for a fact there is not an adult assigned to every cabin.

How to get around this, I don’t know. Maybe Groups Dept. maybe a TA that does tons of businesses? I don’t know.

 

What we do know is that every cruise line out there has a waiver for almost every firm policy.

 

Don’t give up.

Most groups like you are describing have more than one adult for nine teenagers. I think that’s part of the problem. Asking to have one chaperone for that number of kids is very unusual.

Most groups like you are describing have more than one adult for nine teenagers. I think that’s part of the problem. Asking to have one chaperone for that number of kids is very unusual.

I take group of kids like this every summer, not 18 but 15 years of age. They require on adult per 8 kids. So yes, it can be done.

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I don't believe that there is any cruise line that will allow you to have cruisers under 21 in a cabin by themselves. You appear to be a veteran cruiser, so you should have known this before booking.

 

Granted RCI should also not have accepted the booking, but a TA would have been a terrific asset with this kind of booking.

You are correct I am a veteran cruiser however As I stated

- this situation is NOT MINE!

I was asking for a friend. (Not a “friend” meaning myself)

I personally wouldn’t travel with 1 child much less 9.

Most groups like you are describing have more than one adult for nine teenagers. I think that’s part of the problem. Asking to have one chaperone for that number of kids is very unusual.

I don't think a 1 to 9 ratio is that unusual. That would be the normal ratio here for a middle school trip. For the high school trips it is usually 1 adult for 15 students. For my daughter's trip to Japan last week they had 1 adult and 17 students. There was a second adult originally planned but that teacher was unable to attend last minute and they went ahead with the trip as planned.

I don't think a 1 to 9 ratio is that unusual. That would be the normal ratio here for a middle school trip. For the high school trips it is usually 1 adult for 15 students. For my daughter's trip to Japan last week they had 1 adult and 17 students. There was a second adult originally planned but that teacher was unable to attend last minute and they went ahead with the trip as planned.

I was referring to RC and cruising - pretty sure they require one adult per eight students.

I take group of kids like this every summer, not 18 but 15 years of age. They require on adult per 8 kids. So yes, it can be done.

 

 

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Thanks for confirming - OP is trying to take 9 kids per one adult. Perhaps if she added another adult it might work. I know there is a rule as to how many kids per adult chaperone.

I take group of kids like this every summer, not 18 but 15 years of age. They require on adult per 8 kids. So yes, it can be done.

 

 

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Would it be possible for you to tell the OP how you book this so she can look into it?

Would it be possible for you to tell the OP how you book this so she can look into it?

I’d be interested in knowing that as well as it clearly is against Royals official policy,

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-age-policy